Lipe & Dalton Acquires New Shares in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Lipe & Dalton bought a new stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 26,713 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,254,000. Leidos makes up approximately 1.5% of Lipe & Dalton’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Leidos during the second quarter worth $1,024,436,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Leidos by 2.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,277,845 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $646,430,000 after acquiring an additional 161,407 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Leidos by 16,475.4% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,156,784 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $646,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,131,706 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Leidos by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,859,616 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $289,193,000 after acquiring an additional 47,542 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Leidos by 998.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,097,724 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $170,718,000 after acquiring an additional 997,807 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of LDOS opened at $120.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $130.95 and its 200-day moving average is $128.36. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.86 and a fifty-two week high of $205.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 7.80% and a return on equity of 30.81%. Leidos’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.21 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.39 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.04%.

Leidos declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, July 31st that permits the company to buy back 20,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Leidos in a report on Friday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $165.00 price target on Leidos in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Leidos from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on Leidos from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Leidos from $152.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.14.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In other news, Director Noel Geer sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total transaction of $1,406,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 34,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,820,980.84. The trade was a 22.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary May sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $140,850.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,437,233.40. This represents a 8.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

About Leidos

Leidos Holdings, Inc is a technology, engineering and services company that provides solutions to government and commercial customers. The company operates primarily in the defense, intelligence, civil and health markets, supporting customers with mission-critical systems, digital modernization, cybersecurity, data analytics and technical services.

Its offerings include defense and intelligence technologies, command-and-control systems, transportation and infrastructure solutions, health information technology, aviation and security services, and scientific and engineering support.